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Air Temperature and Precipitation Data, Gulkana Glacier, Alaska, 1968-96

By Ben W. Kennedy, Lawrence R. Mayo, Dennis C. Trabant, and Rod S. March

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Open-File Report 97-358

Abstract

Daily, monthly, and annual average air temperature and precipitation-catch data were recorded at Gulkana Glacier basin, Alaska, between October 1967 and September 1996. The data set is important because it provides long-term climate information from the highest year-round climatological recording site in Alaska.

The daily air temperature data set is 96 percent complete. The daily precipitation data set is 83 percent complete; precipitation data for 1993-96 are missing. Annual data summaries are calculated for each hydrologic year, October 1 through September 30, for years that have 12 months of data. Monthly precipitation-catch and average air temperature summaries are calculated for months with nine or fewer daily records missing.

The average annual air temperature recorded at the site from hydrologic year 1968 through 1996 was -4.1degrees Celsius. The coldest recorded year was 1972 with an average annual temperature of -6.7 degrees Celsius. The warmest year was 1981 with an average annual temperature of 2.6 degrees Celsius. January 1971 was the coldest month with an average temperature of -20.8 degrees Celsius. July 1989 was the warmest month with an average temperature of 8.7 degrees Celsius. January 17, 1971, was the coldest day with an average temperature of -35.0 degrees Celsius. June 15, 1969, was the warmest day with an average temperature of 16.4 degrees Celsius.

The average annual precipitation catch recorded at the site from hydrologic year 1968 through 1992 was 1,020 millimeters. The highest annual precipitation catch recorded was 1,572 millimeters in 1981; the lowest was 555 millimeters in 1969. The highest recorded monthly precipitation catch was 448 millimeters in July 1981 and in several different months no precipitation was recorded. The highest daily precipitation catch was 99 millimeters on September 12, 1972, and on many different dates no precipitation was recorded. Because of low gage-catch efficiency the reported annual precipitation-catch data are estimated to represent about 62 percent of the actual annual basin precipitation. Snowfall is the dominant form of precipitation on the glacier from September through mid-June.

Kennedy, B.W., Mayo, L.R., Trabant, D.C., and March, R.S., 1997, Air temperature and precipitation data, Gulkana Glacier, Alaska, 1968-96: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 97-358, 144 p